Why Jonathan Carnahan From The Mummy Looks So Familiar
In 1999, Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz starred in the action comedy The Mummy. Fraser plays Rick O'Connell, an adventurer who discovers Hamunaptra, or The City of the Dead. He recovers an ancient box with a map to the city, but it is stolen by a man named Jonathan Carnahan (John Hannah), a thief and aspiring explorer with an eye for treasure. He shows the artefact to his sister, Evelyn Carnahan (Weisz), who works as a librarian but dreams of being an Egyptologist. Together, they find Rick and convince him to take them to Hamunaptra.
Although they are warned to turn back, the group continues to the site and begin their excavation, discovering the Book of the Dead and the remains of Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), a high priest who lived in 1290 BC. Evelyn accidentally awakens him as a mummy, who now wants to sacrifice her to bring back his lover, Anck-su-namun. The group fight off the ten plagues of Egypt and many other obstacles to defeat the mummy, before traveling home with loads of treasure.
In The Mummy, Jonathan is the main comedic relief, an incapable adventurer who sometimes manages to be helpful to the group. Hannah reprised his role in both sequels, The Mummy Returns and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. While he has acted in other comedic roles, Hannah's career covers all genres. Having acted for almost 25 years, it's highly likely you've seen him around. Not sure exactly where? Let us help you out.
Hannah played Matthew in the award-winning film Four Weddings and a Funeral
Even before his role in The Mummy, Hannah gained praise for his performance as Matthew in 1994's Four Weddings and a Funeral. The romantic comedy stars Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell, two people who keep crossing paths over the course of — you guessed it — four weddings and a funeral. Charles (Grant) and Carrie (MacDowell) have undeniable chemistry but can never seem to get their timing right.
As for Hannah's character Matthew, he is a guest at the first wedding and the partner of Gareth (Simon Callow), and the two men are deeply in love. Unfortunately, at a later wedding Gareth has a fatal heart attack, leading to the film's funeral. In a truly moving scene, Hannah's character Matthew recites the poem "Funeral Blues" by W. H. Auden over Gareth's coffin, honoring his relationship with him and his grief at the loss. The most poignant part of the poem reads "He was my North, my South, my East and West/ My working week and my Sunday rest/ My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song/ I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong."
The film is generally regarded as one of the best comedies and British films ever made. It won many awards, including BAFTAs for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and the David Lean Award for Direction. Hannah was nominated for the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal as Matthew.
Spartacus featured Hannah as Quintus Lentulus Batiatus
In 2010, Starz premiered the first season of the historical drama Spartacus. Starring Andy Whitfield as the title character, the show focuses on the historical figure of Spartacus, a Thracian gladiator who escaped slavery during the Third Servile War and leader of a slave uprising against the Roman Republic. According to Britannica, Spartacus continued fighting until he was taken down in battle and killed in 71 BCE.
The show's first season did really well and Spartacus got an early renewal. Unfortunately, season 2 had to be pushed back because Whitfield was diagnosed with early-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Sadly, after treatment, Whitfield's cancer returned, and he succumbed to the disease on September 11, 2011. Before he passed, Whitfield stated that he wouldn't be able to return for season 2 of Spartacus, allowing the show to look for someone to replace him as the character. They then brought in Liam McIntyre, who played Spartacus for the rest of the show's run.
As for Hannah, he plays a character named Quintus Lentulus Batiatus. Historically, Batiatus was the man who ran the gladiator school that Spartacus escaped from. In the series, he is Spartacus' cruel master, using the gladiator's success in the fights to bring him more wealth and power. When Spartacus gets the chance to escape, he doesn't intend to leave without getting revenge on those who enslaved him. To put it simply, Batiatus' story doesn't end well.
Hannah portrayed scientist Holden Radcliffe in Agents of Shield
Hannah joined the ABC series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for its third and fourth seasons as Holden Radcliffe, a scientist kidnapped by Hive (Brett Dalton) and forced to work on a project aiming to artificially create Inhumans. Radcliffe is soon rescued by S.H.I.E.L.D. and given a deal, dropping charges against his past crimes in experimentation permitting all his future work is overseen by the organization. Unbeknownst to S.H.I.E.L.D., Radcliffe begins developing a new technology called Life Model Decoy — LMD for short — with the help of Agent Fitz (Iain de Caestecker). This leads to the creation of Aida (Mallory Jansen), who the team doesn't even realize isn't human.
While their LMD project can be labelled a success, it all goes wrong after Aida interacts with the Darkhold, an ancient book of power that corrupts her and Radcliffe. Together, they go about replacing the whole S.H.I.E.L.D. team with LMD doubles, placing the real agents in the Framework — a simulation world created by Fitz for training purposes. Aida takes over control and shapes a universe in which Hydra is in power, with the goal of creating a real body for herself so that she can be human, emotions and all. With the Darkhold influencing her, Aida eventually turns on her creator, and Radcliffe is also sent into the Framework. Unfortunately, he never makes it out.
Currently, Hannah stars in the medical drama Transplant as Dr. Jed Bishop
Hannah is currently acting in a more grounded series, taking a break from the sci-fi and fantasy work. He stars alongside Hamza Haq, Laurence Leboeuf, and Ayisha Issa in the medical drama Transplant, about a highly-skilled and intuitive Syrian ER doctor, who faces both societal and medical obstacles in his quest to move forward in his career and save lives. Haq plays the lead character, a man named Dr. Bashir "Bash" Hamed.
Hannah's character is Dr. Jed Bishop, the Chief of Emergency Medicine at York Memorial Hospital in Toronto where Bash works. Bishop can be a very tough, inscrutable boss, who continually tests his doctors to see if they are up for the task of distributing medicine in times of crisis. When he encounters Bash's clear instinct as a doctor, Bishop finds a renewed passion for his work.
The series was originally a Canadian production before NBC put it on their schedule. Luckily for them, the show is a huge hit. The series is getting a great response from critics, with many praising the diverse cast and the fact that the show's main character is a Muslim refugee who legally immigrated from Syria to Canada. With this positive response, it should be no surprise to learn that Transplant has already been renewed for a second season (via THR).